Milk powder

Studies in people

• Open question

  Child growth and malnutrition²

  Adding milk powder to food aid may help malnourished children grow and recover, but this is not yet proven.

• Open question

  Puberty hormones in children⁴

  In healthy prepubescent children, drinking milk with progesterone briefly raised their progesterone levels within hours, but not over days.

• No harm found

  Celiac disease risk in children⁵

  In children who carry celiac genes, eating milk powder in the first two years was not linked to celiac disease.

• Benefit

  Nutrition in older people⁶

  In nursing home residents, low lactose milk powder was well accepted and added vitamins and minerals without cutting usual meals.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar and blood pressure⁹

  In older people with type 2 diabetes, milk powder with added inulin and resistant dextrin improved blood sugar, insulin, and blood pressure.

• Benefit

  Diarrhea in children¹⁰

  In children with diarrhea, low-lactose milk powder with usual treatment worked better and shortened illness, but studies were small.

Study type not stated

• Open question

  Contamination in baby formula¹³

  Melamine was found in some milk powder and infant formula sold in East Africa, including brand-name products.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Long-term health effects in infants³

  In people, arsenic in contaminated milk powder caused lasting health problems, including cancer and growth changes, decades after infancy.

• Cancer risk in children⁷

  In Japan, babies given milk powder contaminated with arsenic later died more from some cancers.

• Kidney stones in babies⁸

  Babies fed milk powder with melamine were far more likely to get kidney stones than babies fed formula without it.

• Infant exposure to plastics¹¹

  Milk powder can contain tiny plastic bits, but babies may get more from bottles and mixing than from the powder itself.

• Toxin exceeding legal limits¹²

  Aflatoxin M1 was found in all 51 milk powder samples, and over half had more than the limit set by regulations.

• Contaminants in infant formula¹⁵

  In tests, milk powder and infant formula held PCNs and other chemicals, and milk picks these up during making and packaging.

How it’s made and used

• Low radioactivity in food¹⁴

  Milk powder from Jordan's shops was tested for radioactive elements; levels were low and varied by country of origin.

• Low levels in samples¹⁶

  Melamine was found in most milk powder and baby formula samples tested, but at low levels.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.